Friday, December 11th 2009
This is just a concern I have about McMaster that I’m sure many students share.
I just wanted to inquire about the shortness of the Holiday break this year. I find it quite ridiculous that the break is so short. The majority of students are here until the 21st or 22nd of December, and classes commence for second semester January 4th? Is this the best McMaster can do? For people like me who finish on the 22nd that means we only have 12 days off. This completely unacceptable. Many other universities not only finish exams a week earlier, but also do not have to return until the 11th. I know Guelph University does not return until then and Lakehead University has many exams ending this week (10th and 11th of December). This is only to name a few. Other schools such as Ottawa University end on the 22nd as well but do not have to go back to class until the 7th.
University students are pushed quite hard nowadays, and undergo many stresses. McMaster owes a longer break to its students this year with the lower quality of education experienced first semester. Not only did the new ELM system not work properly until early October, but also a TA strike disrupted all students in a big way. When you couple that with the effects of swine flu on many McMaster students it is quite clear that 12 days off is hardly adequate.
McMaster has limited the hours of TA’s to the point where in one of my classes the Professor must mark 300+ exams so the limitation of TA work hours is not exceeded. McMaster wants a solution to TA’s working too much? Give them a few extra days off at Christmas a long with the students.
Sincerely,
Tyler Oakman
Tags: Christmas Break, Letter to the Editor, McMaster
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Like we told you on Macinsiders, quit your whining. A lot of people are happy with the number of days off. You’re paying to be in school not to have longer breaks.
well its not intended to be whining. if it came across like that i guess i wrote it poorly. i only spent a couple minutes on it. this is just my opinion and i’m interested to hear others
I think at least a 2 week break would be nice. It must suck for international students especially, because 11 or 12 days isn’t a lot of time to fly home, visit, and fly back. I don’t think this is whining. A lot of people probably have good reasons for wanting a longer break, other than just “I want more days to sleep in”. I hope it doesnt get shorter next year.
As an international student, I fully agree with you. I had an exam on the 10th of December and my next one is not until the 21st. McMaster refused to allow me to write my exam early (citing that they do not make special arrangements for travel, despite the fact that I’m not on vacation, I’m going to see my family after not seeing them for four months). Unlike most of the Canadian students at McMaster, the option to go home in between my exams costs $500+ and hours of flying time. I would have much rather started the semester earlier in September than only have this short amount of time to go home for Christmas break. Maybe McMaster should consider this next time they decide upon the schedule for the academic year.
McMaster screws over international students all the time. My family lived in Chile while I was in first year and I barely got a flight due to how late they publish exam dates. Isn’t the information required to schedule exams available fairly early? “I need x hours for y students” geez.